If you’re reading this, then following the Tour de France is pretty high on your list of stuff to do. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen the race twice, and I can still feel the adrenaline rush when the tv helicoptors appear on the horizon, the caravan streams past, all just minutes before the pelton flashes by in its rainbow of colors, languages, and honking horns.

There are a lot of tour companies offering a variety of ways to see the race, and one worth a closer look is ExperiencePlus! Specialty Tours, Inc., a bicycle tour operator based in Fort Collins, Colorado. They’ve been offering their own unique brand of active travel for over 30 years. Rick and Paola Price, the owners and founders, believe that “travel isn’t just about going places, travel is about discovering the culture, learning the history, and meeting the people in the areas you journey through.”

They’ve created a niche in the travel market by designing active vacations that include extras others don’t offer – three bilingual tour guides, full van-support, bicycles included (at no extra charge), dinners with wine, and routes designed by the only cultural geographer in the business – Rick Price, Ph.D. In addition to the regular bicycle, walking, and multi-sport vacations offered, they can also help you create a custom tour, family tour, or specialty outing that focuses on your particular interest, be it photography, culinary pursuits, or language immersion courses.

Some of the more exciting developments for the 2003 season are their new Spring Training Tours, and two new Tour de France tours. On a Spring Training Tour you’ll spend a week in rural Tuscany, taking daily rides and getting in shape for the upcoming season – join them in April or May. Or, celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France. Choose a week in the Alps, where the steep climbs represent the first chance for an eventual winner to emerge, or a week in the Pyrenees, where the last serious threats to the winner are played out. If you decide to go for the gusto and sign up for both weeks and save 10%.

If you would like more information, give them a call at 800-685-4565 and request an 88-page, full color catalog, or visit them online at ExperiencePlus.com. Either way, you’ll get information and itineraries for over 35 tours in nine countries. With over 100 departures in 2003, you’re sure to find a tour, and a time, that fits your schedule.